December 2, 2010

12-2-10 Thursday, 7:04 am Springfield, 32 degrees, partly cloudy

Daniel 9:1-11:1
Daniel prays for his people, confessing their sin before God, and asking God to forgive them and let His anger and wrath turn away from Jerusalem. “Let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary” (verse 17). This is a prayer that is appropriate for many mainline churches, whose members, leaders and clergy have neglected God, played at being religious while trusting other gods of money, power and influence. We need more modern Daniels who will reject the food of Babylon and praying to God, will pour out their lives for the sheep.

The “Life Application Topic” – Prayer included under this chapter of Daniel in the Wesley Study Bible states that “Wesley calls prayer the ‘proper test of our desires, nothing being fit to have a place in our desires which is not fit to have a place in our prayers’” (Sermon 26). Wesley says we pray “not for a passive, as for an active conformity to the will of God.”

For Daniel, it is clear that his desire is to please God, and his heart is for the spiritual renewal of his people. As I read The Minister as Shepherd by Charles Jefferson, I am reminded of this theme for pastors. Jefferson reminds us that the hard work of shepherding is not done in public, but in private. Even though occasionally a shepherd’s work will be publicly acclaimed, and people swept into obscurity like Joseph, Daniel and Corrie Ten Boom are sometimes celebrated, the real work in God’s vineyard is a daily application of faith and a constant attention to the direction and will of God.

As the winds and frontal boundaries continue to shift and change, may my walk with You be constant and unchanging. Your will is perfect, and it is an honor and a joy to serve among the company of the redeemed, seeking the lost and serving the people of the Way. Guide my steps today, most holy Lord.